Stories

Our annual preparations for the BASELWORLD fine jewelry and watch show started about six months ago, and although we are a well-oiled machine after being at the fair for over 25 years we are still busy getting ready just days before boarding our flights to Switzerland. In fact, as I write this post I can hear lots of activity just outside my office door as all of the breathtaking pieces of William Goldberg and ASHOKA® diamond jewelry we will have on display this year are being inspected one last time before they are finally packed and shipped.

Rendering of William Goldberg’s booth at the upcoming BASELWORLD 2014

We start designing new pieces that will make their debut at Basel months in advance, doing our best year after year to raise the bar with new collections and suites to showcase. Basel is where we see all of our important, overseas clients who are not only visitors at the fair, but exhibitors as well. Since we only have the opportunity to see some of these clients once or twice a year, we need to come with our very best and biggest inventory.  

Another critical component of our Basel preparations is the creation of the William Goldberg booth, which is essentially our satellite office for eight days, where our diamond jewelry will be displayed and where all of our client meetings will take place. For the past six months, we have been working with a design group in Switzerland to conceptualize and create a space that captures our brand identity to its core: clean, simple, luxurious. Although our jewelry speaks for itself, we have focused on key elements such as new lighting and new jewelry forms to give our presentation a fresh, new look. 

William Goldberg 30 carat internally flawless fancy intense yellow diamond getting ready to make its way to BASELWORLD 2014

The last stage of our Basel prep is packing and shipping, which begins a week in advance. We pull out nearly our entire inventory in our vault, and then inspect every piece to be sure the tags are correct, each item is engraved properly, the clasps are all in good working order, and that all of the jewelry has been cleaned to perfection. Everyone in the office gets involved in this process (myself included!) whether they are going to Basel or not. 

Once everything is packed and labeled in our shipping department, we hand everything over to our trusted armored shipping company that we have been using for years. They always make sure that our precious cargo arrives in one piece!

Although the preparation for Basel is a huge undertaking for our team - with a lot of moving parts - it is also a time of year that we all look forward to most...especially when we get to have a night off and dine at our favorite restaurant, Picobello!